27.03.2007

Plant theft down

Plant theft is down for the first time in 12 years, according to a new report by The National Plant and Equipment Register (TER).

Its 2007 Equipment Theft Report published yesterday reveals a fall of 18 percent over the last year.
“Although this is a significant drop, plant theft is still a widespread serious organised criminal activity, often directly linked to the funding of terrorist groups,” says TER’s Tim Purbrick. “There is still a long way to go and many serious issues still need to be addressed.”

The 2007 report reveals some interesting facts:

More than 3,500 higher value equipment items were stolen in 2006 with a total value in excess of £31 million - this compares with 4,324 items worth £43 million reported as stolen to TER in 2005 when plant theft was at a record high.


Excavators remain the highest value category of stolen equipment: in 2006, 793 were reported as stolen representing 22.3 percent and £11.8 million of the total. Excavator theft dropped by 32 percent between 2005 and 2006.


The south-east of England, led by Surrey, then London and Kent, continues to top the league for the most targeted area.
There are also equipment theft hotspots in northern England, in West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and North and South Yorkshire


Trailers are the most commonly stolen item of equipment. After trailers, the most commonly stolen items of equipment are excavators (22.3%), quad bikes (7.4%), dumpers( 6.6%), rollers (5.6%) and breakers (4.4%); the top six types of stolen equipment account for 72% of thefts.

Telescopic handlers remain a high value target for thieves, despite the number of thefts dropping 32 percent to 105. Theft of telehandlers represents 3% of total theft and 8% of total value (£2.5 million)

Sadly, the recovery rate for stolen plant and equipment is less than 5 percent - 95 percent is not recovered.